U.S. patent number 9,091,823 [Application Number 13/405,174] was granted by the patent office on 2015-07-28 for optical fiber connector.
This patent grant is currently assigned to HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD., HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (ShenZhen) CO., LTD.. The grantee listed for this patent is Jun-Jin Pan, Po-Hsun Shen, Bing Su. Invention is credited to Jun-Jin Pan, Po-Hsun Shen, Bing Su.
United States Patent |
9,091,823 |
Shen , et al. |
July 28, 2015 |
Optical fiber connector
Abstract
An optical fiber connector includes a housing, a fixing member,
an optical fiber ferrule fixed at an end of the fixing member, and
an elastic member sleeved on an end of the fixing member. The
housing includes a latching protrusion, and the fixing member
includes a latching portion. The fixing member is received in the
housing with the latching portion engaging with the latching
protrusion, and one end of the elastic member resists on the
housing and the other end of the elastic member abuts against the
fixing member.
Inventors: |
Shen; Po-Hsun (New Taipei,
TW), Su; Bing (Shenzhen, CN), Pan;
Jun-Jin (Shenzhen, CN) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Shen; Po-Hsun
Su; Bing
Pan; Jun-Jin |
New Taipei
Shenzhen
Shenzhen |
N/A
N/A
N/A |
TW
CN
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY
(ShenZhen) CO., LTD. (Shenzhen, CN)
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD. (New Taipei,
TW)
|
Family
ID: |
47743854 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/405,174 |
Filed: |
February 24, 2012 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20130051734 A1 |
Feb 28, 2013 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B
6/3869 (20130101); G02B 6/3821 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G02B
6/36 (20060101); G02B 6/38 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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101299086 |
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Nov 2008 |
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CN |
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101498817 |
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Aug 2009 |
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CN |
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101939681 |
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Jan 2011 |
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CN |
|
Primary Examiner: Wong; Tina
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Novak Druce Connolly Bove + Quigg
LLP
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An optical fiber connector, comprising: a housing comprising a
sleeve and a tubular member, the sleeve defining a cavity, the
tubular member communicating with the cavity and partly located
within the cavity, the tubular member comprising a latching end
received in the cavity and a fixing end extending out of the cavity
and opposite to the latching end, the latching end comprising a
latching protrusion being annular and radially extending from an
inner surface of the latching end, the latching protrusion
comprising a chamfer, the chamfer being a conical surface, and the
diameter of the conical surface of the chamfer gradually decreasing
from the latching end to the fixing end; a fixing member comprising
a latching portion corresponding to the latching protrusion; an
optical fiber ferrule fixed at an end of the fixing member; and an
elastic member sleeved on an end of the fixing member, wherein the
fixing member is received in the cavity with the latching portion
engaging with the latching protrusion, and one end of the elastic
member resisting with the latching end and the other end of the
elastic member resting against the fixing member.
2. The optical fiber connector of claim 1, wherein the housing
further comprises a front end and a back end formed at opposite
ends of the sleeve, the tubular member is partly located within the
cavity at the back end, and a plurality of side walls of the sleeve
cooperatively define the cavity to receive the fixing member and
the optical fiber ferrule.
3. The optical fiber connector of claim 2, wherein the cavity
defines an opening at the front end of the housing.
4. The optical fiber connector of claim 2, wherein the number of
the side walls is four, two opposite inner sidewalls of the sleeve
are substantially rectangular and the other two opposite inner
sidewalls of the sleeve are substantially arcuate.
5. The optical fiber connector of claim 2, wherein the housing
further comprises a resisting member formed at an outer surface of
the sleeve adjacent to the front end.
6. The optical fiber connector of claim 5, wherein the resisting
member forms two opposite protrusions.
7. The optical fiber connector of claim 1, wherein the chamfer is
adjacent to the latching end.
8. The optical fiber connector of claim 1, wherein the fixing
member is substantially cylindrical, the fixing member axially
defines a first inserting hole at one end of the fixing member and
a second inserting hole communicating with the first inserting hole
at the other end of the fixing member, and the optical fiber
ferrule is fixed in the first inserting hole.
9. The optical fiber connector of claim 8, wherein the fixing
member comprises a shoulder formed at the outer surface of the
fixing member adjacent to the first inserting hole and the latching
portion formed at the outer surface of the fixing member away from
the shoulder.
10. The optical fiber connector of claim 9, wherein the latching
portion is annular, and the latching portion comprises a chamfer
away from the shoulder to facilitate the insertion of the fixing
member into the tubular member.
11. The optical fiber connector of claim 10, wherein the chamfer of
the latching portion is a conical surface, and the diameter of the
conical surface of the latching portion gradually decreases from
the first inserting hole to the second inserting hole.
12. The optical fiber connector of claim 9, wherein the cavity is
of a non-circular shape with at least one inner sidewall being
flat, and the shape of the shoulder corresponds to the shape of the
cavity in order to fix the fixing member in the cavity without
rotating.
13. The optical fiber connector of claim 9, wherein the cavity is
elliptical, and the shape of the shoulder corresponds to the shape
of the cavity in order to fix the fixing member in the cavity
without rotating.
14. The optical fiber connector of claim 9, wherein one end of the
elastic member abuts against the latching end of the tubular member
and the other end of the elastic member rests against the shoulder
of the fixing member.
15. The optical fiber connector of claim 14, wherein the elastic
member is a coil spring.
Description
BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to connectors, particularly to an
optical fiber connector.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical fiber connectors mechanically couple and align the cores of
fibers so that light can pass through. An LC connector is a small
form factor fiber optic connector. An LC connector may comprise a
housing, a fixing member, an optical fiber ferrule, a spring, and a
stopper. The housing axially defines a cavity at an end of the
housing and an assembling hole communicating with the cavity at the
other end of the housing. The housing further defines two opposite
positioning grooves at the inner wall of the assembling hole. Two
opposite positioning portions are formed on the outer surface of
the stopper corresponding to the two position grooves. In assembly,
the optical fiber ferrule is fixed at one end of the fixing member,
the spring is sleeved on the fixing member, the fixing member is
received in the cavity of the housing, and the stopper is assembled
to the housing with the two positioning portions engaging in the
two positioning grooves correspondingly. As a result, there are too
many components for the LC connector hindering the efficient
assembly of the LC connector, and the manufacturing cost of the LC
connector is thereby increased.
Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with
reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings
are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being
placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the optical
fiber connector. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals
designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Wherever possible, the same reference numerals are used throughout
the drawings to refer to the same or like elements of an
embodiment.
FIG. 1 is an isometric, assembled view of an embodiment of an
optical fiber connector.
FIG. 2 is an exploded, isometric view of the optical fiber
connector of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the optical fiber connector of
FIG. 1 taken along the line III-III.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an embodiment of an optical fiber
connector 200 comprises a housing 10, a fixing member 30, an
optical fiber ferrule 40 fixed at an end of the fixing member 30,
and an elastic member 50 sleeved on the fixing member 30. The
fixing member 30, the optical fiber ferrule 40 and the elastic
member 50 are all received in the housing 10. In the illustrated
embodiment, the optical fiber connector 200 is an LC connector.
Referring to FIG. 3, the housing 10, integrally formed, is a
substantially hollow cylinder, and is made of plastic material. The
housing 10 comprises a sleeve 11, a front end 12 and a back end 13
formed at two opposite ends of the sleeve 11. The transverse cross
section of the sleeve 11 is substantially rectangular. Four side
walls of the sleeve 11 cooperatively define a cavity 14 to receive
the fixing member 30 and the optical fiber ferrule 40. In the
illustrated embodiment, two opposite inner sidewalls of the sleeve
11 are substantially rectangular and the other two opposite inner
sidewalls of the sleeve 11 are substantially arcuate. The cavity 14
defines an opening 15 at the front end 12 of the housing 10. The
housing 10 further comprises a resisting member 16 formed at the
outer surface of the sleeve 11 adjacent to the front end 12. The
resisting member 16 forms two opposite protrusions 162 configured
for engaging in a groove of an adapter (not labeled). The housing
10 further comprises a tubular member 18 communicating with the
cavity 14, and the tubular member 18 is partly located within the
cavity 14 at the back end 13 of the housing 10. The tubular member
18 comprises a latching end 182 received in the cavity 14 and a
fixing end 184 extending out of the cavity 14 and opposite to the
latching end 182. The latching end 182 comprises a latching
protrusion 1822 radially extending from the inner surface of the
latching end 182. The latching protrusion 1822 is annular, and the
latching protrusion 1822 comprises a chamfer 1824 adjacent to the
latching end 182. The chamfer 1824 is a conical surface to
facilitate the insertion of the fixing member 30 into the tubular
member 18, and the diameter of the conical surface of the chamfer
1824 gradually decreases from the latching end 182 to the fixing
end 184. The fixing end 184 forms a latching portion 1842 at the
outer surface of the fixing end 184. The latching portion 1842 is
used to fix a protective sleeve for a cable (not labeled).
The fixing member 30 is substantially cylindrical. The fixing
member 30 axially defines a first inserting hole 32 at one end of
the fixing member 30 and a second inserting hole 34 communicating
with the first inserting hole 32 at the other end of the fixing
member 30. The first inserting hole 32 is used to fix the optical
fiber ferrule 40 and the second inserting hole 34 is used for
inserting an optical fiber into the fixing member 30 to align with
the optical fiber ferrule 40. The fixing member 30 further
comprises a shoulder 36 formed at the outer surface of the fixing
member 30 adjacent to the first inserting hole 32, and a latching
portion 38 formed at the outer surface of the fixing member 30 away
from the shoulder 36 to latch the latching protrusion 1822. In the
illustrated embodiment, the shape of the shoulder 36 corresponds to
the shape of the cavity 14 in order to fix the fixing member 30 in
the cavity 14 without rotating. In other words, the fixing member
30 is non-rotatably fixed in the cavity 14 of the housing 10. The
latching portion 38 is annular and forms a chamfer 382 away from
the shoulder 36 to facilitate the insertion of the fixing member 30
into the tubular member 18. In the illustrated embodiment, the
chamfer 382 is a conical surface, and the diameter of the conical
surface of the chamfer 382 gradually decreases from the first
inserting hole 32 to the second inserting hole 34. In alternative
embodiments, the chamfer 382 is omitted.
In alternative embodiments, the cavity 14 can be elliptical, or of
a non-circular shape with at least one inner sidewall being flat to
avoid rotating of the fixing member 30 received in the cavity
14.
The elastic member 50 is sleeved on the fixing member 30. In the
illustrated embodiment, the elastic member 50 is a coil spring.
In assembly, the optical fiber ferrule 40 is fixed in the first
inserting hole 32 of the fixing member 30, the elastic member 50 is
sleeved on an end of the fixing member 30 away from the optical
fiber ferrule 40. An end of the fixing member 30 with the latching
portion 38 is inserted into the housing 10 through the opening 15
with the outer surface of the shoulder 36 abutting the inner
surface of the cavity 14. The fixing member 30 is pushed towards
the tubular member 18 until the chamfer 382 of the latching portion
38 of the fixing member 30 fully engages with the chamfer 1824 of
the latching protrusion 1822 of the tubular member 18. The latching
portion 38 slides along the chamfer 1824 until the latching portion
38 and the latching protrusion 1822 are engaged with each other. At
this time, one end of the elastic member 50 abuts against the
latching end 182 of the tubular member 18 and the other end of the
elastic member 50 rests against the shoulder 36 of the fixing
member 30. The fixing member 30 with the optical fiber ferrule 40
is thus firmly fixed in the housing 10.
In summary, the latching protrusion 1822 of the housing 10 engages
with the latching portion 38 of the fixing member 30 to firmly fix
the fixing member 30 in the housing 10. The total number of
components of the optical fiber connector 200 is reduced. As a
result, the assembling efficiency for the optical fiber connector
200 is improved and the manufacturing cost of the optical fiber
connector 200 is decreased. Since at least one inner sidewall of
the cavity 14 is flat, the cavity 14 thus acts to prevent the
rotation of the fixing member 30 received in the cavity 14.
The present embodiments and their advantages will be understood
from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that
various changes may be made thereto without departing from the
spirit and scope of the embodiments or sacrificing all of its
material advantages.
* * * * *